Plasticity in growth and patterns of dry matter distribution of two genotypes of Trifolium repens grown in different environments of neighbours

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Abstract
Replicates of 2 genotypes of T. repens L., collected from a Poa pratensis dominated sward and a Dactylis glomerata dominated sward, respectively, were grown in swards composed of various proportions of P. pratensis and D. glomerata. These swards represented a range of enviroments of neighbors; in increasing proportion of P. pratensis was considered as an increasingly alien environment for individuals of T. repens collected from the D. glomerata dominated site, and vice-versa for the individuals from the P. pratensis dominated site. The individuals of T. repens were harvested on five occasions over a period of 27 mo. Both genotypes responded to increasingly alien environments by producing more influorescences and by distributing proportionately more dry matter to influorescence production. Some evidence is also presented which suggests that allocation to stolons and influorescences are alternatives and the balance of the trade off is dependent on the advantages of possibly producing new, better adapted offspring from seed, against the chances of a wandering stolon encountering a less hostile environment. Results are discussed in the context of environmental alienness, a major source of which is the different relative proportions of neighbors. The various genotypes of organisms which a relatively mobile plant species encounters are a major source of this environmental, or biotic, alienness.